This invention relates to the field of user interfaces. In particular, the invention relates to translating user interface sounds into a three-dimensional (3D) audio space.
Computer users may be overwhelmed by large amounts of graphical information displayed on a screen simultaneously. People often perform multiple tasks when using a computer, and as the number of tasks increases, so does the amount of time that the user has to spend switching between and organising the tasks and programs in order to gauge what is going on.
Many programs use common sounds to accompany status and information messages, for example, the Windows® “exclamation” sound. (Windows is a registered trade mark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both.) If a person is using multiple programs, and a sound comes from a program in the background, the user will have to tab through all their programs to figure out which program made the sound. Also, if more than one program makes the same alert sound, it is not possible to distinguish between the applications to determine the origin of the alert.
Additionally, users with accessibility options turned on may use screen readers and other such solutions to identify and interpret what is being displayed on a screen and to present the information with sound. Such screen readers may be ineffective at providing the detail and clarity needed to build a good understanding of what is happening on screen as a whole.